Washington – Republican House Majority Leader McCarthy: Congress Likely To Sink Iran Deal

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    FILE  - U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks during a news conference in Tunis March 27, 2015. REUTERS/Anis Mili Washington – Congress will disapprove the Iran deal when it votes on the matter by September 17th and may even be able to over-ride a presidential veto on the matter, Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy predicted as he spoke with reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday.

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    “I do not know if the democrats have whipped this vote,” McCarthy said.

    “We [the Republicans] have not whipped the vote either,” he added.

    But McCarthy noted, “I have not heard of anyone from my side of the aisle that said they are voting for it. I have watched a number of democrats oppose it.”

    McCarthy spoke of his opposition and that of his party to the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program that was worked out between Tehran and the six world powers: the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

    Supporters of the deal within the Democratic party and the Obama administraiton, including US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, are already speaking about the day after the deal is set in motion.

    But McCarthy had an entirely different take on the future of the Iran deal.

    “It will go to the presidents’s desk with a [Congressional] disapproval, that is very safe to say,” McCarthy as he explained that the real question was whether there was enough opposition to stop US President Barack Obama from vetoing the Congressional vote.

    “There is a possibly that if [Obama] vetoes it, it will be overridden [by Congress],” McCarthy said.

    The high ranking politician is in Israel along with 35 other visiting Republican Congressmen. They arrived as House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer wrapped up his visit along with 23 Democratic Congressmen.

    Both trips were sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which traditionally funds such trips in the summer.

    This year, in light of the upcoming both groups focus heavily on learning more about Israeli view points on the Iran deal, while the Israeli Palestinian conflict played a back seat.

    McCarthy was careful to avoid describing the Iran deal as a battle between Republicans and Democrats on the Hill and instead spoke of “bi-partisan opposition” to it.

    There is a bi-partisan belief, he said, that “a much better deal can be achieved.”

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been outspoken about his belief that the Iran deal is a historic mistake, was strangely quietly after meeting with McCarthy’s delegation on Wednesday and with Hoyer’s group on Sunday.

    On Sunday, Obama told CNN that Netanyahu has interjected himself into Washington politics more forcibly than any other foreign leader.

    But on Thursday, McCarthy said that Netanyahu was simply doing his job as Israel’s leader.

    “I do not see where Benjamin Netanyahu was interfering with anything,” said McCarthy, just one day after he and 35 other visiting Republican congressmen met with Netanyahu.

    “He is elected by the State of Israel and voices the opinion of the state on security,” McCarthy said.

    Netanyahu “did not tell us how to vote. Much like every other leader of any other country, he conveyed what he sees. He was very open and I thought he was more concise than I have ever seen him,” McCarthy said.

    “I think from concerns that he has about the agreement the majority of the room has the same concerns,” McCarthy said.

    Netanyahu spoke of what would happen 13 years into the future, when Iran has billions of dollars and the ability to produce atomic weapons, particularly in light of their support of terrorism today, McCarthy said.

    Given “everything I have seen from Iran, their policies have not changed,” he said. Iran has only increased its funding of terror organizations, McCarthy said.

    “One of the biggest concerns is the the billions more Iran would have [with the deal] what will they do with it, who would fund it,” McCarthy said.

    In the past Obama urged critics to quell their voices until they knew the details, know that the information is known, he has warned that the only alternative is war, he said.

    Obama he said is spinning out lines that are not true, such as, “It is only this deal or war.”

    “No one believes this to be true,” he said.

    McCarthy said he believed that it was possible to achieve a better with Iran and that the choice was between a bad deal and a better deal.

    A better deal would not allow Iran to have nuclear capability within 13 years, he said.

    “If we are trying to capture peace and we are measuring it in a 13 year old time frame,” McCarthy said as he tried to explained what 13 years meant to him.

    “My wife and I have a son and a daughter. They have a life time in front of them. I will not walk away and make the world more unsafe and more dangerous because I wanted someone to say we captured peace for this moment but jeopardized freedom for the future,” he said.

    Looking beyond September, McCarthy said, he believed that Obama’s foreign policy and the Iran deal in particular would play a large role in the 2016 presidential race, he said.

    “If the Democratic party embraces the administration’s foreign policy, it will have to defend the foreign policy of the enemy, that is why the foreign policy will be the number one issue inside the debate for the presidency of America,” he said.

    With regard to the US-Israel relationship, McCarthy said, he did not believe the public spat between Netanyahu and Obama would harm those ties.

    “These are two personalities,” he said. “The bond between Israel and America is a bond that does not break over personalities,” he said.

    It’s a bond that is created by the shared values of justice, liberty, freedom and democracy, McCarthy said.


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    6 Comments
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    Realistic
    Realistic
    8 years ago

    Well the majority of congress led us to war in Iraq, and look how it turned out to be. So you need to question the wisdom of Congress.

    Realistic
    Realistic
    8 years ago

    Why did he go to Israel to say this. Did he take a oath to protect Israel or the United States.

    If he wants to serve Israel, he has the right, but don’t use the United States for that.

    golani
    golani
    8 years ago

    Well what happened in Iraq now is because we have a weak Marxist anti semitic leader in charge who dosent do anything except for retoric you fool and helped launch isis and why shouldn’t members of Congress go to israel they are the front lines of the nuclear bomb you who thinks you will be safe in America wake up fools!!

    rebchuna
    rebchuna
    8 years ago

    Amazing. A goy gets up and says the truth. That Israel may stand up for its security & there will be no fall out to their relationship with the US. Poshut unbelievable!

    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    8 years ago

    I wish our president had his back bone instead of being in bed with all the oil producing countries.